[[1]]At the 1908 Olympics Wilson won his 1500 m semi-final in a time of 4:11.4; his time in the final was 4:03.6, fractions of a second behind Melvin Sheppard.[2] He was also part of Britain's five-man gold medal-winning team in the three-mile race. He was Britain's fourth man home in fifth place overall. His teammates were Archie Robertson, Norman Hallows, Joe Deakin and William Coales.
The following year, Wilson was in Queens, New York, competing alongside Sheppard. He spent the 1909 season in the U.S., and was considered one of the best mile runners. The same year he turned professional and raced in Australia and South Africa. On 29 November 1915 he enlisted as a Private in the West Yorkshire Regiment, serving overseas.[ He later emigrated to South Africa, where he died in 1932.[3]]
References
1. ^The Late Harold Wilson, Star Green 'un, June 11, 1932
2. ^1910 Hassan Cigarettes trading card.
3. ^Death of Harold Wilson, Sheffield Daily Telegraph, June 7, 1932
Further reading
{{Commons category}}- {{cite book |author=Cook, Theodore Andrea |title=The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 Official Report |publisher=British Olympic Association |location= London |date=May 1909 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1908/1908.pdf |format=PDF
|accessdate=29 December 2008}}- {{cite web | last = De Wael | first = Herman | year = 2001 | url = http://users.skynet.be/hermandw/olymp/ath1908.html | title = Athletics 1908 | work = Herman's Full Olympians | accessdate = 30 July 2006 }}
- {{cite web | last = Wudarski | first = Pawel | year = 1999 | url = http://olympic.w.interia.pl/ | title = Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich | accessdate = 30 July 2006 |language=pl}}
{{Authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Harold A.}} 11 : 1885 births|1932 deaths|British male middle-distance runners|Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics|Olympic athletes of Great Britain|Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain|Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain|People from Horncastle, Lincolnshire|Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics|Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)|Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)